What are we doing in the garden 2024

Wow Obelixx so much planned. Take it easy on those knees. Been soggy for months here around Paris too. All my pots hava an algi problem and only just got the terrace clean, it was really moldy and slippery.

 

Got a Sarah Raven delivery of 3 x Nepeta Kit Kat, so I got them into slightly bigger pots. Will have to go in the ground once I get a bed cleared for them.

To my delight, the summer thyme seedlings were just about peeking up over the vermiculite today, so I took off the cover and did a little happy dance. It's my first time sowing them, and they've only taken about a week to germinate. I was expecting about a month!

Also bought some hanging baskets for my strawberries, hoping the slugs won't be too aerial this year. I've seen them parkour off the patio doors to get to my dahlias protected by copper tape before, so we shall see.

Side note: When I started this hobby, it was with the thought of 'oh, a couple of packets of seeds won't cost the world, gardening will be a lovely, cheap hobby'! Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha.

 

I have been seed sowing in my greenhouse. Scabious, Heleniums, Coleus, annual Asters, tomatoes and various varieties of Calendula.
If they all germinate l could have a problem !

The tomatoes l sowed in pots on the kitchen windowsill on 14th March have started to appear .

 

Love Coleus AnniD but did not have seed this year. It’s hard to get, and really expensive here. I’ll probably have to settle for whatever boring colours they have in the French Garden centers. I love the thrill of getting the second set of leaves on the seedlings to get a hint of the colours you will get. I know a lot of folks don’t like the bright ones but it always feels like winning the lottery when you get something pretty.

 

I'd be happy to send you some seeds @Jacquiscrap (I read that so wrongly !), but l'm not sure how many UK 1st class stamps would cover the cost of a small letter ?
Is sending seeds from the UK even allowed these days ?

 

Bit of tidying in my garden this morning, repositioning a couple of geum Totally Tangerine that were a bit too close to a rose, then over to the daughter's place after lunch to help weed there....blimey, she had so much celandine!! We moved a couple of things into better spots (they took on a neglected garden when they moved two years ago and it's been hard work sorting out overgrown shrubs and mats of things like wild geums) and planted out some perennials I'd split off mine last autumn, then time for coffee and cake....I reckoned I'd worked off the calories! I snaffled some young foxgloves from her, she has them seeded all over the place whereas some of mine had failed, so once home they got planted in the gaps.
And now I think I'm ready for another coffee!

 

Give it 6 months and I'll no doubt be scaring this pest off of my greengage again.


@infradig I'll pass on the pigeon pie!

 

@Februarysgirl , I know they’re classed as pests but…they’re lovely! Maybe I wouldn’t think so though if I had them in my garden stealing stuff.

 

@Bozzie I think they're cute, just not so much when they're stealing my greengages! I'd have been more than happy if it had been stealing my Victoria plums, I had so many of those last year I was having to take them into work to give them away!

 

Unfortunately not AnniD. Another of the Brexit headaches we live with now. I’m coming over at the weekend and can hopefully convince hubby that I need to visit a UK garden center. You never know what may hide itself in my suitcase….

 

@Februarysgirl Maybe they’re just squirrels of taste!

 

No grey squirrels here @Februarysgirl but there are bigger beasties.

Yesterday I went to a local neighbourhood meeting last night about activities at a quarry of volcanic stone not far from here and they were explaining their environmental measures as the quarry is set to expand northwards, away from us. Apart from saving and creating habitat for wildlife they've also made an agreement with local hunters to control the wild boar population.

One neighbour from round the corner says she's had troops of them going thru her garden since Xmas. I sincerely hope they don't head this way and that our fencing is adequate if they do because they are really destructive of beds and lawns.

 

Visited friends last year who live near the Forest of Dean, I was shocked how many wild boar there are, we saw quite a few gardens and verges routed up by them. Even the local footie club had their pitch destroyed. I'd be terrified if I bumped into one of them, think some of them can be huge.

Today I've planted out a tray of winter sown Lupins, planting them dotted around, and a tray of winter sown Alyssum along the edge between the patio and a flower bed. Also planted up, and pruned a miniature rose.

Some pepper and tomato seeds have germinated in the house, they're now outside, I like to raise them to be tough. They're covered/protected of course, as I'm not all that mean on them

 

No pie for me, flying steak sandwiches! (see Jamie Oliver)
Haven't (yet) tried these with gages